My late night music, Chris Eccleston, reciting Evidently Chicken Town by John Cooper Clark, with a bit of Bill Shakespeare thrown in from the film Strumpet.
If you don't like the the "F word" don't listen.

Spoiler:

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I've just accidentally come across a name from the past - Czech harpsichordist Zuzana Růžičková, born 1927. I bought an LP of her playing Bach keyboard concertos in the 1970s, but never knew anythng about her. Apparently she died in September this year, aged 90.

Her style is a bit "old school" compared to modern tastes - I think she must have been influenced by Wanda Landowska, who was instrumental in reviving interest in the harpsichord in the early 20th century. What I didn't know was that as a teenager she was imprisoned by the Nazis in Terezin, then in the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Of her family, only she and her mother survived.

I've already said I'm a big fan of Liszt's transcriptions for piano of other composers' songs. I'm not sure I'd heard this one before. It's Schubert's song "Die junge Nonne" ("The Young Nun") in a masterly performance by British pianist Leon McCawley.

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Wonderful melody and orchestration, accompanied by some stunning images. Best viewed full screen. Far from HD or even hi-fi, but I found it uplifting in these, for me at least, depressing times. (can be a bit slow to load.)

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Personally I find Bach's 200+ cantatas a source of almost endless tedium, but occasionally a movement or aria turns up which is a real gem, and this is one, in my opinion. It's the opening aria from Cantata No 170, "Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust", sung by Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński, who, until today, I confess I had never heard of (but he's very good).

Spare textures, beautiful oboe obbligato. Just don't fixate on the hyperactive violinists, especially the one next to the oboist, whose knees seem to have a mind of their own.

For me, Bach doesn't get much better than this (your mileage may vary, of course).

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Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński again. I have never really liked the countertenor (or male alto) voice. It was popular in the 18th century, when there were some well-known castrati (Farinelli was probably the best known), but it fell out of fashion. In the 20th century Alfred Deller was instrumental in re-introducing the technique, but I never enjoyed listening to him. Many others have followed, such as James Bowman, Michael Chance, and more recently Philippe Jaroussky, but somehow I've never got on with any of them.

So I'm surprised to find a high male voice that I find convincing. This is from an informal event at Aix-en-Provence in 2017, and is an aria from an opera by Vivaldi called Il Giustino. The piano accompaniment is not authentic, but that doesn't bother me at all. It's quite possibly one of the best things I have heard for a long time.

One thing that did make me smile, though. The pianist is using a tablet computer instead of sheet music, but he still needs a page-turner to flip the screen for him at the appropriate moment.

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High camp from Schubert from a Hungarian group. I don't think it's meant to be, but it just seems that way. Actually it's quite a nice performance of this part song for female soloist and chorus. I just can't help feeling that the two tenors have put on the wrong jackets, judging by the sleeve lengths...

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As often happens, the best music gets on the TV ads. I tend not to pay much attention to them, until something grabs my ear. The music is used to preview ITV drama, for some reason, but the Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem is definitely ear-catching. Nice to hear boy sopranos in this oldish recording.

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This is John Masefield's poem "Captain Stratton's Fancy" set by Peter Warlock (1894-1930), in a classic performance by John Shirley-Quirk.

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Then just today I found that there is another setting by Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) which, if anything, is even better. The two are different - the poem consists of seven stanzas. Warlock sets 1-4 and 6, but Gurney only sets 1, 3 and 7. So far I have only found one singer who has recorded the Gurney setting. Fortunately, it's the excellent Roderick Williams. Why hasn't anybody else?

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Something of historical interest. Glenn Gould performing the first movement of Bach's Keyboard Concerto No.1 in D minor (BWV 1052), from 1960, and with an interesting introduction from Leonard Bernstein. Dated sound of course, and dated performance style, but Gould's crisp, clear performance technique still has its attractions.

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And for anyone interested, a more modern recording and performance style by Polina Osetinskaya, a name totally new to me. Have to say, I prefer the latter recording. And it's complete.

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